ReactJS vs Vue.JS -Incisive Analysis on Two Popular Web Frameworks

Gone were the days when ReactJS vs AngularJS were the subjects of the debate while choosing the one out for the project. However, Vue.js is another player that is giving a tough fight to ReactJS, and even developers and vendors are shifting their attention to the two JavaScript frameworks: ReactJS vs. Vue.js.

Technology is not stable as it is continually evolving and comes up with a new surprise every now and then. You never know what is going to happen next in terms of technology evolution. Vue.js in its initial stage (in 2014) was not so popular, and it took almost one year to get attention in the tech arena. Developers started talking about the framework and exploring the potentials of it for their projects.

Things have totally changed over the years and apart from ReactJS and Angular, there is another player in the fray -Vue.js. It’s a matter of debate and developers are discussing its potentials when it comes to select the right framework or JavaScript libraries or language for their projects. So, I have also dared to jump in to the debate with fellow developers.

The reason behind calling it a debate, I think, this the only way to clear our understanding. Besides, plenty of our clients ask me to suggest the right web app development framework. Most of them are actually perplexed to choose the right one from ReactJS or VueJS. So, these are some of the reasons why I have taken this step. To understand it clearly, you need to go through the entire article. You are welcome with any counter question or suggestion. Here’s my take on the two top and most popular front-end frameworks: ReactJS vs. Vue.JS.

History of ReactJS and Vue.JS

Advantages of ReactJS

ReactJS is comparatively very effective and helping developers with plenty of benefits. Let’s understand some of the top benefits of ReactJS for your projects.

• ReactJS is flexible and responsiveness
• Migrating from one version to another is quite easy and simple to perform
• ReactJS is supported by developers across the world and therefore comes up with daily updates
• Documents are arranged in HTML, XML and XHTML format in a tree due to Virtual DOM
• The organized documents are accepted by web browsers when pointing out elements in a web app
• The easy syntax for developers having knowledge of HTML

Advantages of Vue.js

Vue.js, as we have talked earlier, makes development very fast. Mainly used for the progressive web application, Vue can be replaced ReactJS and AngularJS for Web app development. Here are some of the top benefits of Vue.js for your projects.

• js helps developers create reusable templates
• Vue allows developers to develop SPAs and even complex web pages
• Switching to different frameworks is comfortable with Vue
• js allows optimization of HTML blocks handling
• It has plenty of features similar to other frameworks like AngularJS and ReactJS
• Easy documents make understanding of framework easy for developers

Disadvantages of ReactJS

Having plenty of benefits or advantages does not mean that ReactJS is suitable for all development environments. Here are some of the drawbacks that you are supposed to be encountered with during the Reactjs development.

• ReactJS makes learning totally difficult due to not having a full-featured framework
• Integrating user interface into the MVC framework requires in-depth knowledge
• Search engine indexing problem occurs due to lack of isomorphic approach
• JSX documentation is difficult to understand for new developers
• Generally, ReactJS contain large size library

Disadvantages of Vue.js

Vue.js is good and offers faster development. But, it has some drawbacks which really hamper the developers from selecting the framework for their projects. Here’s what;

• js lacks in proper plugins and components
• Most of the codes have been written in Chinese, and therefore it takes time for developers to understand it
• js is also moving fast that creates some confusion among developers whether they should opt or not
• Minor issues occur with iOS and Safari, though they are imitable
• Sometimes over-flexibility creates problems while working with more significant projects

ReactJS Market Share

React is holding 13th rank, among the 71 JavaScript technologies, in terms of having a number of websites and unique domains. You can see in this image below that there are over 717,319 websites built on React JS. Apart from that, it is constantly growing with 5,163,280 weekly downloads while the framework has over 126,941 GitHub stars.

Source: Npmjs

Vue.js Market Share

VueJS, on the other hand, is slightly lower in terms of popularity and downloads. It is holding 24th rank among the 71 JavaScript frameworks and libraries. It has total 93,607 websites build using the framework while. However, after the top brands like Xiaomi, Alibaba, Codeship, Gitlab, etc. have started using the framework and the demand of the framework is continuously growing. It currently has 993,030 weekly downloads.

Source: Npmjs

Similarities in ReactJS and VueJS

Well, this is worth knowing that one framework or library may not be a complete solution for your project. Therefore, whether it is React or Vue, you cannot take them as comprehensive solutions. You still need some supporting frameworks or libraries to develop the solutions. There are around 71 JavaScript frameworks, and all have shared at least a few similar properties. So, here I have given what similarities ReactJS and Vue.js shares. Let’s take a look;

• ReactJS and Vue both use virtual DOM
• Both offer Reactive and Compulsive view components
• Core libraries are maintained well
• Companion libraries take care of routing including global state management

A Quick React.js vs. Vue.js Comparison

My Take

I have stated everything that is enough to help you choose the technology for your project. However, if it happens to be from my side, I would select a framework based on the project in hand.

If I have a project that requires;

• Many components with changing states
• Active/inactive navigation items
• Web apps require dynamic inputs
• When performance is the priority

In such a case, I would prefer ReactJS as first technology. While in the case of Vue.js, I would select it when;

• I want to develop a fast application
• I want to build a small size application
• I want to create an optimized application
• I want to develop a Single Page Application

In short, both are the best options based on the projects you want to develop. So, go with the pace of the project not with what looks good to you.